In the United States Post Office, mail is separated and sorted by zip code for delivery to the appropriate location that the mail is intended. In order to speed up this sorting operation it is desirable to have apparatus which automatically delivers the pieces of mail, one at a time, to an operator who reads the zip code on the pieces of mail and inputs the zip code into the apparatus for sorting the mail by the zip code. Apparatus has been developed for reading and sorting certain types of mail, particularly flat mail which is completely enclosed in an envelope and within certain sizes of envelopes. However, there is a large category of flats mail which cannot be handled by presently used automatic sorting apparatus and must be sorted manually. This type of mail includes such things as magazines or similar items which are open along one or more sides, relatively thick flat packages, and flats mail of various sizes and shapes. A major problem in handling these types of flats mail is in feeding the mail pieces, one at a time, to the sorting apparatus. In the United States-Post Office mail is transported in standardized corrugated plastic tray. It is necessary to take a stack of mail, which may include various types and sizes of flats mail, and separate the pieces of mail, one at a time, from the stack and then feed the individual pieces to a sorting apparatus. However, because of the different types and sizes of the mail pieces in a stack, it has not been possible to do this successfully with automatic apparatus. Therefore, it is desirable to have an apparatus which will separate the individual pieces of mail from a stack containing various kinds of flats mail and deliver the pieces, one at a time, to a sorter or other handling apparatus.